Yearnings
by sss979
Summary: (8th Doctor) "We are going to change; all three of us. Right now, we're in a world without time - year nothing, year zero. We walk into the Tardis, we start again from scratch. No resentments, no bitterness, no anger, no yearnings. We just share the adventure, agreed?" - The Doctor, "The Next Life" (WARNING: Tasteful adult content, as per R/M-rated movie)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I didn't write this with the specific intent of posting it on since I fear there are few readers here who can truly appreciate it. For those of you who will read it simply because I wrote it, I love you guys to death. For those willing to take a chance on a Doctor "earlier" than Nine (quote, unquote because there are still new 8th Doctor productions being released), I must say that if you have never met the 8th Doctor and his companion Charley, I STRONGLY urge you to do so. Since I know most of my readers on this site are familiar only with the new TV series, and maybe the absolutely hideous 8th Doctor movie, for many, this will be a first exposure to these two canon characters. I must warn you that there are a number of spoilers - more allusions to events of canon that will be lost on anyone unfamiliar with the progression than "this, this and this happened" - but as introductions go, it should be smooth enough to make sense of it. The 8th Doctor and Charley have the only explicit "I love you"/"I love you" relationship - whatever you take that to mean - in Dr. Who. If you like 10/Rose, you will invariably love 8/Charley. So this is my little sales pitch for Big Finish, and the 8th Doctor audiodramas that are STILL being produced. And this story is exploration of how these two best friends take their relationship a step further.

**YEARNINGS**

_"We are going to change; all three of us. Right now, we're in a world without time - year nothing, year zero. We walk into the Tardis, we start again from scratch. No resentments, no bitterness, no anger, no yearnings. We just share the adventure, agreed?" - The Doctor_

The Tardis door creaked as it opened, the way it always did. With baited breath, Charley followed the Doctor out into the blinding sunlight. For a moment, that bright white sunlight was all she could see. Closing her eyes instinctively, she raised a hand to shield them as she gave them a second to adjust.

"Well, it's certainly bright enough."

"Three suns," the Doctor pointed out. "See? One, two, and... Well, the third one's back behind those mountains over there."

Her eyes were slowly adjusting, allowing her to see the mountains he was pointing towards. They were some miles away, past the plain of short-growing yellow-gold grass. There were few signs of wildlife across that plain, but a couple of jagged trees in the same yellow colors lined what she guessed must be a creek.

"Where are we, Doctor?"

"A small planet in the Cravacian Solar System. Never been here before actually." He beamed. "Should be interesting, don't you think?"

She turned to look on her other side, the direction the Doctor was wandering toward. They were on a beach, a vast, endless ocean spreading into the distance. Islands rose out of the horizon like grey, ghostly monsters. Charley had to smile at that. The bumps in the distance made her think of water-dwelling dinosaurs with their backs rising over the glassy surface of the water. And who was to say they weren't? An unfamiliar planet, a solar system she'd never heard of.

She'd never seen a dinosaur. Yet...

"Charley, come look at this!"

She turned in the direction of the Doctor's voice and saw him some distance away already, lying over one of the enormous black rocks at the water's edge and staring down at the side that faced the ocean. She followed, but only made it a few steps before the rocks under her feet made her slow, skipping and trying to find a better way to step.

"Ow! These rocks are so sharp, like glass." She held out her arms as if that would somehow help her to tread more lightly over the jagged fragments that littered the sand. There was certainly no avoiding them. "I'm surprised they're not cutting through my shoes."

"Look," he said as she came closer, ignoring her complaint.

Climbing up beside him, she leaned forward on the rock - glad for its smooth surface - to peer down the opposite side. Brilliant colors greeted her - emerald green and royal blue. They looked like rocks themselves, except they moved, pulsing gently as if with the beat of a heart.

"What are they?" she asked, fascinated. "Are they alive?"

"Yes, I think so. I've never seen them before, but they seem to be breathing. Look." He pointed out the tiny hole at the top of the bright red one. Sure enough, it was expanding and contracting with every "breath".

"I wonder what they're called," Charley mused, reaching down to touch the soft, satiny flesh of the creature clinging to the rock. She was a bit startled by the texture. She'd expected it to be rough and hard, not soft.

"That would probably depend on who you asked."

He turned and sat up, but she continued to pet the rock creature for a moment more. It reacted to her touch, leaning towards her, not away. She smiled.

"The planet itself has a half-dozen different names - all given by off-world species. The dominant species on this planet still lacks even the most basic forms of communication, let alone a naming system."

"It's uninhabited?" she asked, sitting up beside him.

He grinned as he gestured to the rock creatures. "Well, clearly it's inhabited."

"You know what I mean."

"But civilized, no. If it weren't so far out in the middle of nowhere, it would be a prime target for colonization. It has no valuable resources to speak of, but it _is _a pretty planet."

"Well, then, I suppose it's good for the rock creatures that it isso far out in the middle of nowhere."

"Depends on who's wanting to colonize. If it's a species likely to come in and wipe out all indigenous life -"

"Which it usually is."

"Not always. Some colonists get on rather well with the native species of their planets."

Letting her mind wander, Charley turned to look out over the endless water behind her, then closed her eyes as she breathed in deep. This close to the ocean, she'd instinctively expected the moisture in the air to be salty, but it wasn't.

"The air smells sweet," she observed, fascinated. "Like some sort of fruit perhaps."

"I noticed that too. Certainly not an unpleasant smell."

"No, it's quite nice." She opened her eyes again. "And not the slightest wave in the water. The surface is like glass."

"No moon to pull the tides. Not even one - now isn't that rare? Most planets have at least one - the debris left over from creation. I suppose the water might still get a bit choppy when a storm blows through, but hardly the sea-storms your planet would be accustomed to."

She raised a brow as she glanced back at him. He was at the bottom of the black rock, removing his socks and shoes. "Um... Doctor?"

"Yes, Charley?"

"Did you happen to notice those jagged rocks I was mentioning? You know, the ones that feel like razor sharp knives jabbing at the bottom of your shoes?"

"Rather hard to miss."

"Right. Well, aren't you going to cut your feet to ribbons on them if you take off your socks and shoes?"

He smiled knowingly as he glanced up at her - that mischievous smile he got when he knew something she didn't. "D'you think?"

"I've already felt them through my shoes so yes, I do."

"You felt them pushing on your shoes," he corrected. "Feel them with your hand."

"With my hand?" Now she was just puzzled.

"Yes, that's what I said."

Curious, she climbed down from the rock and crouched at the bottom of it, pressing her hand lightly to the sharp rocks. But they weren't sharp. She pressed harder, and the rocks seemed to give way. In fact, they almost tickled, like a millipede's legs crawling across her skin.

"Oh! They're alive, too!"

"Apparently, they respond to organic tissue. The chemical exchange of nitrogen, if I had to guess."

"Oh, I see! So that's why they feel sharp on your shoes."

"Exactly. And why I'm taking them off."

"But Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"Suppose we... crush them or something."

"No, I don't think so. Push down on them too hard and they simply sink into the sand, then dig their way up again."

"Oh, good. I'd hate to think we were hurting them."

With no more hesitation, she followed his lead, stripping her shoes and then her socks. He wandered away from her slowly, looking all around him as he waited as patiently as he could. She could tell he was bursting with energy. An unexplored planet, warm sun, cool breeze. Bouncing on his heels, he looked as if he were ready to take off at a sprint along the water's edge.

Leaving her shoes on the black rock beside his, she hurried to catch up with him. The ground under her feet tickled - hard sand lined with tiny hairs of soft grass that gave way everywhere she stepped. She tried not to giggle as she hopped from one foot to the other, but couldn't really help a little laugh.

"So _that's _why you're bouncing!" she guessed.

"Hmm?" Brows raised, he glanced back at her.

"The ground. It tickles!"

He beamed and reached out a hand to close over hers. "Come on!"

As she'd anticipated, he was off running. Not so fast that she had to struggle to keep up, but certainly not a leisurely pace. They'd run much faster over the past few days - namely to avoid being exterminated by the Daleks. Running for one's life certainly put this sort of exercise into perspective.

By the time they made it a hundred yards down the beach, she was definitely winded. He slowed as he noticed, and she bit back the urge to comment on his excessive energy. It wasn't hard when she was still trying to catch her breath. If he hadn't been pulling her by the hand, she probably would've slowed a ways back.

He held her hand in his for a few more steps, then let go as he took off towards the tree line at a full sprint. She followed much more slowly, always a few steps behind as he bolted from one fascinating new discovery to the next - plants and trees and more rock-like animals. He was as interesting to watch as the surroundings. Like a kid in a candy store, full of wide eyed wonder.

For her part, there were a number of things Charley found interesting. There were at least a half dozen different kinds of rock creatures - colorful, plain, marbled, big, small, smooth, jagged... Also notable was the distinct lack of bugs and birds and sounds in general. Luckily, the Doctor's excited rambling more than made up for the natural silence.

Finally, they ended up back on the beach, the Doctor standing straight as he looked out over the calm water.

"Charley, can you swim?"

She frowned as she shielded her eyes from the blinding sun, trying to see what he might be implying she might swim _towards_. "Yes, of course. You know I can."

"Do you think you could swim to that island over there?"

She hesitated. "I don't know. It looks rather far."

"Yes, but there's no waves, no current. We're not on a tight schedule so you could always stop and float a bit if you get tired."

"And nothing dangerous in the water? Like... sharks or something?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Given the stage of evolutionary progress on this planet, I highlydoubt it."

She hesitated a moment, considering the distance again. A few hundred yards at least. It was further than she'd ever attempted to swim before. But the water was calm and in fact looked rather inviting, particularly since the sun was starting to really beat down on them. The temperature had risen at least five degrees since they'd arrived.

"Yes, alright. I suppose I could make it."

"Excellent, Charley!"

He sounded just like a kid on Christmas morning. It made her smile to herself, even as she turned and looked back down the beach in the direction they'd come. "We'll have to go back to the Tardis, though."

"What for?"

"Well, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly dressed for swimming."

In her loose-fitting jeans - they really were the most comfortable thing she'd found so far in all of the planets they'd visited - and oversized sweatshirt, she was overdressed even for exploring as the temperature continued to climb. But certainly for swimming, this attire wouldn't do.

Her dilemma seemed lost on the Doctor, who was staring at her with a puzzled look. "Since when have you needed to be dressed for swimming?"

"Well, I'm hardly going to swim that distance wearing this. It'd be far too cumbersome. And modesty demands I wear a bit more than you did in that fountain in Light City."

He laughed. "Nonsense, Charley, there's not another living soul for miles in any direction. Light years, in fact. Well, unless you count C'Rizz and I don't think he'll be waking up anytime soon."

She smiled as she shook her head in disbelief at the fact that he didn't seem to consider _himself _"another living soul."

"Oh, Doctor."

He was already stripping his jacket, tossing it onto the sand and weirdly organic, tickling rocks. Sometimes, she wondered if she would ever begin to understand the way his mind worked. Her smile saddened a bit as she watched him - as she tried not to do. They'd visited a half dozen planets since they'd returned to their own, rightful universe. But it had only been a couple of days. C'Rizz was still sleeping off his "transmigrational hangover," in fact. And the Doctor's sharp rebuke was still ringing in her ears. No resentment, no bitterness, no anger, no yearnings.

She lowered her eyes now the same way she had then. Had he left off that last bit - the part that was aimed specifically at her - she might not have had any trouble at all with the new behavioral guidelines. C'Rizz wasn't that bad, really, and it wasn't as if he had anywhere else to go. He belonged with them, in a way - displaced, just as she was, from his own home. She didn't mind him as much as she'd thought she would, even if he did occasionally get under her skin.

But that last part - no yearnings... That had been a warning specifically aimed at her. And it wasn't fair, really, for him to ask her for that. It wasn't as if she'd set out with the intention of falling for him, after all. Far from it. And in any case, controlling feelings was nearly impossible when they were well-founded. She could control her actions, the way she responded to those feelings, but she couldn't stop the feelings from being there. She couldn't really comply with "no yearnings." Especially not when he kept doing things, saying things, looking at her in ways that made her remember everything she found so incredibly attractive about him. And it certainly wasn't easy when he seemed oblivious to the fact that he was doing it at all. No yearnings, Charley, but I'm going to tease you with that low, invitational voice - the one that makes you wonder what sort of things I would say in the dark . No yearnings, but I'm going to walk with you hand in hand and make you wonder what my hands might feel like touching you everywhere. No yearnings, but I'm going to strip down naked with you and go for a swim...

And that's precisely what he did. Well, nearly, anyway. Wearing only his undershorts, he left the rest of his clothes in an untidy pile as he ran headlong into the water and dove beneath the glassy surface. He was laughing as he reemerged. "That water feels great! Well, come on, Charley, don't just sit there like a bump on a log. What are you waiting for?"

She was glad, for the sake of her own self-consciousness, that he paid her little heed as she slowly stripped her outer layer of clothing, setting it in a neat pile beside his. Her adaptation to later-period clothing - so much more comfortable! - had changed her underclothes little. She had never been one to appreciate corsets or girdles or tight fitting bodices. A camisole was all she'd really needed, and it was all she'd worn, at least when she could get away with it. That was no different now. Only her tap pants had needed to be shortened and tightened to fit comfortably beneath the jeans. She'd had a good laugh at the evolution of women's underwear around the turn of the twenty-first century, and stuck with something that covered and was comfortable. Standing half-naked on the beach, she was very glad for her moderate-conservative choice.

The Doctor was facing the other direction, shielding his eyes from the suns overhead, as she waded into the comfortably cool water and ducked under the surface as soon as it was deep enough.

"There you are!" He smiled brilliantly at her as she approached.

"This water," she noted, touching her tongue carefully to her lips. "It's _sweet_."

"Yes, I noticed. So was that rock we were on earlier. The giant black rock, like that one over there."

She raised a brow. "You tasted the rock?"

"Of course! I had to know what it was made of... Anyway, they're made of some type of polysaccharide compound that seems to be less water soluble than any I've ever seen."

"Sugar," she summarized, incredulously. "The rocks are made of _sugar_!"

"A compound very much like sugar, anyways. I wouldn't drink too much of it, though. It might make you sick."

She frowned as she considered the ramifications of this discovery. "So does that mean when we emerge from this little swim, we're going to be all sticky?"

"Hmm. I suppose so. I hadn't really thought about it."

"Great," she mumbled under her breath. "Something to look forward to."

"Well, the damage is already done."

She sighed. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Can't do any worse to keep going."

He smiled as he gestured to the island in the distance. "Shall we?"

She smiled back, forcing herself to think about anything other than sticky hair and sticky skin and sticky fingers as she pushed off and followed beside the Doctor toward the island.


	2. Chapter 2

Only the Doctor's dignity, such as it was, kept him from collapsing in an exhausted heap on the island's shoreline. Charley had no such pride. Gasping and sputtering, she fell face first on the sand, only half out of the water, and clung to the earth for dear life. He raised a brow as he looked at her.

"Charley, are you alright?"

She groaned, not even lifting her head. "I'll be just fine after a nice long nap."

He chuckled, surveying their surroundings. The tree line was only a few feet from the water's edge. He shook out his hair, raking his fingers through it to keep it out of his face as he dragged himself to his feet and headed for the shade. The sun was getting hotter by the minute, and his curiosity had the better of him as he surveyed the sounds of the island - much more alive than the shore they'd left. Searching for the source of the rattling hum that sounded almost like an engine, he found a new life form - another rocklike creature that vibrated and clicked its tiny appendages together.

"Charley!" When she didn't respond, he wandered back towards the water and found her very much the way he'd left her. "Charley?"

"Five more minutes, Doctor."

He smiled as he came closer and offered her a hand. "Come on. Can you walk? Or am I going to have to carry you?"

Finally, she raised her head and glared at him. He kept his hand extended as she pushed herself up, and finally reached out, letting him pull her to her feet.

"You're enjoying this a little too much, Doctor," she said dryly.

"Well, enjoying ourselves is rather the point, I would think. Though I see now what you meant about the sticky hands."

She made a face as she pulled her hand away from his, flicking her fingers as if that might help them to be less sticky. It certainly didn't work.

"As uncomfortable as the stickiness might be, it's not my first concern right now."

"Oh? What is?"

"A drink of water, for one. And getting out of this blazing sun."

He smiled as he tipped his head back. "I think the sun feels rather nice."

"Yes, but my skin is a bit fairer than yours, Doctor. And now that I'm standing here on this beach wearing strikingly little, it occurs to me that there are two suns overhead. I can literally feel my skin cooking."

"Hmm, good point. Into the shade, then. And just as well; there's so much to see!"

"It looks like there's a stream over there," Charley said. "Flowing into the ocean or... whatever you'd call it."

"I think ocean is appropriate. It does cover three-fourths of the planet."  
"Well, maybe there's a freshwater spring or something at its source."

"Possibly. At any rate, it has plenty of shade."

She led the way, anxious to duck under the covering of the lush, wide-leafed trees. It was much cooler in the shade of the little cove, among the twisted trees with their mangled, exposed roots. Calm and damp, the air was thick with the sweet scent of evaporated water from the slow-moving stream. Vines that looked rather like flexible reeds hung from the trees, draping all the way to the sandy ground. There were none of the sharp rocks here, only sand and small patches of grey and gold grass.

"Do you suppose it's like a tide pool?" Charley guessed.

"Were there a tide to come in, I would say yes."

"Oh. Right." Charley stepped down into the water, dipping her hand in and touching her fingers to her lips. "Still that sweet, sugary water."

"This close to the ocean, I'd imagine it would be. It's below the water level." He stepped down beside her, into the center of the stream. The water came up to his waist. "But it is moving. Something is feeding it."

"No harm in exploring, right, Doctor?"

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Come on."

It was darker under the shade of the canopy, but light still peeked through, reflecting off the shimmery surface of the water and casting glimmering light up to the branches and leaves overhead. It looked almost alive, the way it fluttered. Nature's magic. On nearly every planet - the few exceptions being those ravaged by some higher species - beauty took such varying forms and yet was always constant in its majesty. The tiniest flower, the most brilliant sunrise; the crystals of light filtering through a grain of sand or the tallest peak of the highest mountain...

"I don't know what's worse," Charley grumbled, "being all wet or being dry and sticky."

"It's not so bad," the Doctor answered encouragingly. "But given the steep banks up ahead, I'm afraid we haven't got much choice but to wade through the water if we want to keep moving forward."

"And given that the alternative is to go _back_..."

"It makes the decision of what's worse rather a moot point."

He smiled at her and she made a face as she pulled her sticky fingers apart, then dunked them into the water again just to get them apart. It was too bad he didn't have much of a sweet tooth, or this place would be like heaven. Even the air was saturated with the smell of sugar, even more so in here, where the shelter trapped the thick humidity. It was a smell almost like menthol or eucalyptus, but sweeter than either.

There were tiny fish swimming past his legs. He could feel them, even if he couldn't see them in the dingy grey water. The fish followed them as they waded through the waist deep water until a familiar sound ahead made him pause.

"Charley, listen. Do you hear that?"

"Yes. It sounds like trickling water."

"I think we may have found our source. One of them, anyway."

"One of them?"

"The stream keeps going. Maybe for miles. But that sound is coming from right over there..."

He pulled himself up onto the sandy grass, and tried unsuccessfully to brush the particles off of his hands as he gained his footing. Giving up, he crossed the tiny clearing and pulled aside a few thick reed-vines to reveal a tiny spring. He knew as soon as he touched it that it was fresh water. It wasn't as thick, and it rinsed the stickiness from his hands. Cupping them together, he caught the water and smelled it carefully before he drank. Cool and clean, it tasted wonderful.

Charley was hardly content to rinse her hands. She twisted and turned every which way, dousing her face, her arms, her torso, her hair, her legs. He watched her with amusement for a few minutes, then turned his attention to his surroundings, surveying them with interest.

Some of the knotted, twisting trees had bark, grey in color and covered with patches of dingy yellow moss. Others looked as if they had been stripped of their bark by wind or by animals. Or maybe they were meant to look that way, since he couldn't imagine the wind reaching them in the stillness of this cove, and so far he'd seen no animals capable of stripping a tree of its bark. Still, it was possible that there were many things on this planet he'd not yet seen.

"Ah, that's much better," Charley finally announced, wringing out her hair as she sat down on the soft grass.

He cast her a quick glance, then returned running his fingers along the soft moss. Everything living in this world seemed so soft and fragile. Unusual, given that many of the living creatures resembled rocks to the naked eye.

"Did you notice how much darker it is in here, Doctor?"

"More layers of the canopy."

"How do you suppose the grass grows without sunlight?"

"I'm not sure. Certainly not through photosynthesis. Maybe it takes all it needs from the soil."

"But then why have leaves at all?"

"A good question. I don't know."

"That's a first," she teased.

He smiled, but didn't answer. Instead, he returned to her and sat down, legs crossed, beside her.

"I suppose it'll get _really _dark once the sun goes down," she mused. "Or... suns, rather."

"Probably. But we have hours before that's going to happen."

"Long enough to take a nap before exploring, do you suppose?"

"Yes, if you like. I'll try not to venture too far."

She pouted. "Oh, that's not what I meant. I want to go with you. It's just that I'll enjoy it much more if I could have twenty minutes to shut my eyes. That swim was a bit more than I'm used to, after all."

He considered her, and her suggestion, briefly before nodding. "You're right. I think we could both do with a few minutes of rest."

"Thank you, Doctor."

He watched her as she settled on her side, curling in on herself slightly with a smile on her face. He waited for her eyes to close before he lay back, tucking his arm under his head as he breathed deeply and let sleep wash over him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Doctor?" She wasn't quite awake yet, but she knew something was wrong. She knew he wasn't beside her. Sitting up, she blinked into the darkness. "Doctor!"

"I'm here, Charley."

His voice was reassuring - low and hypnotic, as if he had everything under control. It calmed her instantly, even before she could tell precisely where it was coming from. It was somewhere nearby; she knew that much.

"Where are you? I can't see you."

"Look up."

The clearing was dark, much darker than it had been when she'd fallen asleep, anyway. Tipping her head back, she squinted into the darkness as she saw the shadows move overhead. He was in the tree, lounging against the trunk with his legs hanging down on either side of one of the thicker limbs. She laughed at the sight of him - half naked and in a tree, like a little boy at play.

"What on earth are you doing up there?"

"Just surveying our surroundings a bit. Look what I found."

Holding out a hand, he dropped a lightweight, round object down to her. She might not have caught it if he hadn't deposited it right into her hands. It was too dark to see the palm-sized ball until she was holding it.

"What is it?"

"Crack it open against the tree. It should break fairly easy."

"It's food?"

"Some kind of fruit, yes. It's quite good."

The fruit made a mushy crack as she hit it against the trunk of the tree and the sticky juice spilled out onto her fingers. She didn't mind too much; she could still hear the spring water flowing behind her. Pausing just long enough to smell the fruit, she took a big bite of it.

"It is good," she agreed. "Tastes sort of like a very sweet apple. But with the consistency of a banana."

He chuckled. "Yes, if you like."

She moved back as he climbed down from the tree, and offered him a piece of the fruit. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he took it.

"Much better, thanks. Though I didn't mean to sleep so long. Why didn't you wake me?"

"It hasn't been terribly long. Only about an hour."

"An hour?" she asked, alarmed. "But it's so dark!"

"Yes, but listen."

She paused, listening to the layers of sound - the trickle of the spring, the hiss of the leaves overhead brushing against each other, and beyond that... "Is that rain?"

"Yes. A storm, in fact. It came up so quickly, I didn't even notice until I heard the rumbling overhead."

As if on cue, the sky thundered above them. She frowned. "Well, that's no good."

"Why not?"

"Well, we certainly can't swim back in the middle of a storm!"

"No, of course not. But we weren't ready to go back anyway. We still have plenty to see, to explore. Shall we?"

He offered a hand down to her and she finished the last of the fruit before rinsing her hands quickly and allowing him to pull her to her feet. "It seems even warmer than it was," she noticed as he walked along the narrow bank, deeper into the cove.

"Yes, it's a bit odd. On most planets, the rain tends to cool things down. Basic rule of precipitation. Water vapor cools, gets heavy, and falls to the ground."

Her eyes had fully adjusted to the dim light, but if it got much darker, she was going to have trouble seeing where they were going.

"And of course, in places where the atmospheric temperature never hits freezing, the water just gathers around dust particles until it's heavy enough to -"

"Doctor, look."

She was a few paces ahead of him, and he quickened his pace to catch up. She was standing at the edge of a large, rocky clearing, hand out to catch the thick drops of water spilling down. "The sky," she said as he paused beside her. "It's so... red."

"So it is, Charley."

"It's rather pretty, actually."

He lingered for a moment at the edge of the clearing as she stepped forward, into the rain. Tipping her head back, she let it fall on her face, her neck, her shoulders. "It feels like bathwater. Warm."

"Yes, and heavily oxygenated. You can't smell it, but I'm pretty sure there's an extra oxygen atom in this water. Well, two, I suppose, since otherwise it would be raining hydrogen peroxide."

"And you can smell it?"

"No, not as such, but I can feel it. When I breathe deep." He drew in a full breath to demonstrate before he continued. "That's very interesting. I don't think I've been to many planets where trioxidane forms naturally during a thunderstorm."

Distracted by the rain, Charley stretched out her arms and let it soak through her. The thick, heavy drops were falling straight down, plopping into the pools that were forming in the grass, where the ground couldn't soak in the water fast enough.

She hadn't played in mud puddles since she was a child, and the experience was more joyful as an adult than she ever remembered it being before. Covered in mud and bits of the gold grass, soaked to the bone, the two of them ran and rolled and wrestled from one end of the clearing to the other. Charley was scarcely aware of how much time had passed until she realized her stomach was growling. More importantly, the raindrops were turning sharper, pelting her face and shoulders in a way that made her realize the light, annoying sting she'd been feeling was, in fact, sunburn. The warmth of the water and the needle-like jabs of the drops were getting more and more uncomfortable as the burn settled in.

The Doctor found more of the unusual fruit in the trees at the edge of the clearing and she tried not to be too obvious about the way she was trying to keep the rain off of her shoulders and back as they ate. But by the time they finally made it back to the cool spring, it was obvious she wasn't having much fun anymore. She wasn't complaining - no good would come of that when there was nothing either of them could do to change the situation, and she'd only make herself more miserable - but she certainly was thinking about how nice it would feel to be back in her own room in the Tardis, lying in front of a cool fan while the heat radiated off of her skin.

"Looks like it's getting dark." The Doctor's voice was serious, but hardly concerned. "And the rain still hasn't stopped. I think we'd better plan on staying here tonight."

"Part of me was hoping you'd say that," Charley muttered, trying to find a way to twist her hair into a knot so that it didn't brush her shoulders. Stretching her arms to do it was agonizing, but the payoff would be worth it. "The other part of me was longing for a soft bed and a cool fan."

He chuckled quietly as he came closer and shook the water from his hair. The rain was still hissing through the trees, but they were sheltered from it in the cove. "It's not too bad here. We've slept in far worse."

"Yes, but I didn't have a sunburn then."

"Do you?" He frowned. "Have a burn? It's too dark for me to tell, really."

"Yes. And it's rather unpleasant."

"Hmm... You know, I may have seen something that can help. Wait here a moment. I'll be right back."

"Wait! Doctor!"

But he was already gone, into the shadows. Finally giving up on her hair, Charley heaved a frustrated sigh and folded her arms over her chest. Pouting did about as much good as complaining, she knew. But just now, she was too irritable to care.


	4. Chapter 4

It took the Doctor a little longer than he had hoped it would to find what he was looking for. Pulling one of the plant's thick stalks off at the base, he made his way back towards the spring at a reasonable pace, a bit more cautious in the dark. It wasn't completely black, but he was pretty sure that beyond the rainclouds, the last of the three suns was slipping behind the mountains. Judging by the size and speed of the planet's rotation and the position of the first sun when they'd arrived, they would have about four hours before the first sunrise. Not exactly a proper "night" but then, they hardly needed one. They had both slept quite well in the Tardis the night before, and the light nap had been plenty invigorating. If not for the fact that there wasn't much to see on a planet with no moon in the middle of the night, he wouldn't be considering sleep at all.

Charley was miserable. He knew it the moment he saw her, sitting beside the spring and dousing her shoulders with cool water. She did manage to force a smile at him as he came closer.

"Did you find what you were looking for, Doctor?"

He smiled. "I did."

"Oh, good. Because I'm starting to get a little chilled, dumping handfuls of cold water on myself while my skin keeps cooking."

"This will work much better. Here."

He knelt down beside her as he parted the leaf into sections and squeezed the milky white goo out of the veins, onto his fingers. He touched the tip of her bright red nose with it and her breath caught with surprise as he smoothed it over her cheeks.

"Wow. That feels better already!"

"Good. I was hoping it might. It's similar to a plant we have on Gallifrey. Not the same species, I'm sure, but alike enough to be recognizable." He smoothed the creamy substance over her forehead and the rest of her face, rubbing it in gently. "Sometimes I wonder at the similarities between species on so many different planets. Take the basic humanoid form, for example - two arms, two legs, walks upright... I've lost count of how many of those I've run into. Of course, I suppose that's defining the human form in the broadest of terms. Turn around."

Charley turned, and drew in a sharp breath as she raised her arms to try and pull her damp hair off the back of her neck.

The Doctor frowned. "You know, this might be easier if you just lie down. On your stomach?"

"Fine by me."

Already kneeling, Charley leaned forward, carefully lowering herself to the soft grass. The Doctor squeezed more of the milky goo onto his fingers before nudging her hair out of the way and touching the back of her burned neck carefully. She sighed as he spread the lotion across her skin, letting it absorb for a moment before going back over and rubbing it gently in. She gave a soft, appreciative moan as his hands pressed more firmly, just enough to let him know that it wasn't painful.

"You know something, Doctor?"  
"Hmm?"

"You're quite good at this."

He smiled. "Is the sting gone?"

"Oh, yes, quite. Amazing, really. But that doesn't mean you should stop."

Still smiling, he rubbed the last of the lotion into her shoulders, then set the drained leaves aside. Pressing his thumbs to either side of her spine, he worked down slowly, over the loose, thin camisole. It clung to her like a second skin, leaving little to the imagination. He hadn't paid it much heed before, but he was suddenly very much aware of the fact that he could feel all of the muscles along the curve of her back and the warmth of her soft skin even through the fabric.

In the long silence that followed, he worked out the tension in those muscles, letting his mind rest for a moment. He was beginning to wonder if she'd fallen asleep when she finally spoke.

"Doctor?"

"Yes, Charley?"

"May I ask you something?"

"Anything you like."

She hesitated, stalling. A few false starts piqued his interest before she finally sighed. "I realize that she was... he was... well, whatever. Perfection. I know that she was just goading you. But what she said... About me..."

So that's why she was tensing under his hands. No wonder, really. They hadn't talked much about their last few days in the Divergent Universe. Actually, he'd been hoping there wasn't really much to talk about. But clearly, she was bothered by whatever circles her mind was running. Lightening his massage to a more reassuring rub of his hands over her back, he remained silent as she struggled for words.

"What she said... About why you preferred me over her. Because she was a woman and I was an innocent, wide eyed... How did she put it? Oh yes. 'Pretty young thing.'"

The Doctor sighed. "Charley, please remember who you're talking about. I wouldn't trust Perfection's analysis of the time of day, much less the psychological profile of a Time Lord."

"Yes, but we're not talking about just any Time Lord, Doctor. We're talking about you. And you're the one who -"

She choked on her frustrated, accusatory tone and fell silent as his hands stilled on her back as he raised a brow curiously. Where was she going with this? He gave her a moment to continue before pressing when she didn't.

"Charley?"

She sighed audibly and he moved back to give her space as she turned onto her back, propping herself up to look at him. "She said you liked her flirting with you when she was a damsel in distress."

"And she was wrong."

"Oh, but that's not the point!"

"Then what is?"

She sighed again, flustered. "Doctor, I've never flirted with you. At least, not like she did. Not... intentionally, for lack of a better word. To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't even know where to start. I'm just not that kind of girl and... well... I really don't want to be."

"Good. That makes two of us."

"But I wonder, Doctor..." She sat up straight, taking a deep, cleansing breath before she continued. "Is that why you've always been so much more comfortable around me? Is it because I'm... well... safe? Because it would never progress past a friendship with me?"

"Charley, I -"

"No, please." She held up a hand to silence him. "Let me finish. This is actually quite difficult to put into words, let alone say. And if I stop, I'm not sure I'll be able to start again."

Biting his tongue, the Doctor diverted his gaze away from her, letting her continue.

"I know we're friends, and I know when you said you loved me, you didn't mean anything romantic by it. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I did, either. Not at first. But times change. Wandering around with you in the Divergent Universe for God knows how long can change anyone. And it did, Doctor. It changed me. And you heard everything I said before we left there. That... big long confession that wasn't half as difficult at this one. I was jealous. Still am, really, when I think about you and her traipsing around in the jungle. Oh, but that doesn't matter!"

Her frustration mounting, she turned her head and scowled at the grass for a moment before pushing her shoulders back and continuing. "The point is, you're not being fair. Because I heard what you said, too, and yes I agreed to it and yes, I could do it. I can. At least, I think I could. Maybe. I could make myself stop feeling like this - stop yearning, as you put it - if I wanted to do. I've done it before, with things and people I couldn't have. I could write you off as a schoolgirl crush and... well, and be done with it."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She didn't sound convinced. But the determination in her words and her straight-backed pose didn't waver. She was trying for "defiant," even if the look in her eyes was anything but.

"The thing is, I shouldn't have to do. Maybe I... I like feeling this way. Maybe there's something a bit masochistic in me, to want something I could never have. But I have a right to feel that way. And I have a right to know - well, at least I think I do at this point; I think I've earned it - to know how you feel. To know if that yearning rule is a two way street. And if that means anything to you at all or if it's no big deal, even with what we've seen, what we've said and done... because I'm just the pretty young thing that follows you around all innocent and wide eyed."

Finally, she fell silent. He gave her a few seconds, but finally looked up when she didn't continue. "Are you finished?"

She swallowed noticeably, her shoulders falling as she squeaked out a barely audible, "Yes. I think so."

He didn't wait for her to change her mind. Instead, he reached out, cupped the side of her face in his palm, and quickly pulled her mouth to his.


	5. Chapter 5

Charley's eyes flew open in shock as she suddenly found herself kissing the Doctor. Her entire body rigid, she was momentarily paralyzed. But he didn't pull away. Closed lips against hers, he waited for her to respond, to kiss him back. It took her a moment before her brain re-engaged, and she relaxed into his touch. Her lips parted slightly, but he didn't pursue the kiss further. He let it linger, nuzzling her gently, their mouths brushing lightly, over and over again before he slowly withdrew.

Finally, she took a slow, ragged breath, the air shockingly cool against her moist lips. "Oh," she finally managed weakly, still too stunned to think any more coherently than that. That, of all things, was not the answer she'd been expecting.

He sighed softly, stroking his thumb over her cheek as he watched her closely. "Charley, I could spend the next five hours sitting here and refuting all the misconceptions you seem to have about me and how I feel about you - how I've _always _felt about you. But must I really do?"

She studied him quietly - the pleading expression that wanted her to just understand what he somehow couldn't say. She swallowed hard as he pushed his hand back, through her hair.

"I told you, Charley. You're in a league of your own. I meant that."

She swallowed. "Well, yes, but you also told me, in not so many words, that as a condition of remaining with you, there could be no more 'yearning'."

"What I meant, Charley, is that I can't have you getting jealous of every person I interact with."

"I'm not jealous," she said a bit indignantly. "And even if I was, jealousy is different than yearning."

"The two go hand in hand, it seems. At least where Perfection was concerned."

Scowling, Charley pulled away from his touch. "Now that's not fair! I had every right to be angry at Perfection. Jealous, even."

"And C'Rizz? Did you have reason to be jealous of him?"

She swallowed hard, caught without a comeback, and the Doctor sighed, softening his voice again. "Charley, you have no competition. It's silly for you to think you could be so easily replaced. Not to mention a bit insulting."

"Insulting?" she asked, confused.

"I'm not so easily in and out of love. It's not something that I take lightly; I'm surprised you don't know that."

"Well, you seemed quickly enough out of it when it was time to return here, to our own universe."

In the dim light, he stared at her, struck. "Is that what you think?"

"Doctor, you made a _point _of pushing me away. Things had..."

She choked on her frustration again. He was staring at her blankly, as if she were speaking to him in a language he'd never heard before. She lowered her head and took another deep breath before continuing.

"You know, Doctor, if not for the fact that you were hurting, I think I could've been happy staying in that universe forever with you. Because here..." She looked up at him, pushing her shoulders back again. "When you said that, it was like you were reminding me of the rules. And I remember what those rules feel like. Never look too long, never stand too close. Never let your mind wander too far. But those rules didn't apply when we were there. Falling asleep in your arms, pressed close together to keep warm..." She smiled at the memory. "It felt like the most natural thing I'd ever done. The whole world collapsing around us - one world after another, in fact - huddled together for warmth or security... And your soft voice in my ear telling me that it was safe to sleep. Or that I should imagine that the rocks were soft as down."

Slowly, he drew his eyes back to hers and she knew he remembered it just as clearly. Swallowing hard, she shook her head slightly. "Having felt that, Doctor - having lived those memories - how can I _not _yearn for you? And why must I do, just because we came back to a universe with time in it?"

She barely breathed as his eyes - softened now with understanding - searched her. Finally, he leaned closer again. The second kiss was slower, deeper, and it didn't catch her off guard. Her lips parted against his and this time, hesitantly, he sought entrance. With a hand on her side, he pulled her closer until she could feel the warmth of his body through the thin fabric of her camisole. She was breathing harder as he closed the kiss, lips still against hers as he whispered, "Charley, you have me."

"I want more," she whispered back without thinking. She could feel her heart pounding against her ribcage, the blood singing in her ears as she marveled at the excitement of what his kiss did to her, the boldness it drew from those recesses where proper young ladies kept their passions hidden. "I want it so badly, it aches in my chest. I can't even breathe when you look at me. And I can't think when you kiss me."

"Then don't."

Eyes rolling back, she gave herself to his kiss again, trembling slightly as his fingers traced the edge of her top. He paused at the ribbon, parting from the kiss to stare at her eyes in the dark. Nuzzling her gently, he pulled at the ribbon until the bow came loose, and the barest tips of his fingers brushed her skin. Dizzy with unfamiliar feelings of passion and need, she leaned back as he unthreaded the ribbon from the top eyeholes and pushed her gently back into the soft grass.

"Doctor?"

He didn't answer. Instead, his warm kisses trailed from her mouth to her jaw to the side of her neck, across her collarbone and slowly, lightly, lower. Her skin was on fire everywhere he touched her, nerves dancing with pleasure and excitement, and her hands moved into his hair as he kissed a straight line down, between her breasts.

"Where does it ache, Charley?"

She was too breathless to answer even if she'd had something to say. Blinded by bliss and anticipation, she arched her back, pressing up against his mouth, inviting him to continue. He moved lower, slowly, an inch at a time, unthreading the front of the camisole as he went.

"Doctor?"

"Yes, Charley?" His voice alone was enough to send a shiver down her spine. Low and inviting, teasing her. Maybe without even meaning to. That dark, shadowy tone always seemed to make her think all sorts of things she was sure he didn't intend.

"Um... Just how similar are our bodies? Biologically, I mean."

"You mean you're wondering whether or not I'm even capable of making love to you."

Her heart fluttered at the words, her flesh breaking out in goose pimples as her womb clenched. "Um... The thought had entered my mind, yes."

He moved his kisses back up to her neck, leaving the unthreaded camisole closed over her chest. "Compatibility has never been the problem."

"Oh. Well, that's a relief." She could barely think with his warm kisses falling on her recently burned and healed shoulder, his hand running smoothly along the top edge of her panties. "If it wouldn't... break the mood, or make you stop what you're doing, suppose you might tell me what the problem is? Er, was. Should be?"

"The problem is, I love you."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, well, that's not so bad. I thought you were going to tell me I might spontaneously combust or my brain might explode or something if we -"

"I love you in a way I don't think I've ever loved anyone before."

"But that's _good_, isn't it?" Confused, she pushed his head back to look into his face as she stroked her fingers through his hair. "After all, I would hope this isn't just a one off." She swallowed tightly as she realized her words. "I mean..."

"Good for us, perhaps," he said quietly, slowly raising his eyes to hers. "But for the rest of the universe? For the Time Lords?"

"Well, frankly, I don't see how it's any of their business."

The Doctor smiled sadly as he moved up closer to her, brushing her hair back from her face. "Our bodies are very much alike, Charley. Even on a genetic level. And there are very strict rules about inter-species breeding."

She frowned. "Well, I'm not suggesting we _breed_, Doctor."

"Well, I didn't think you were, but not for nothing, I have to think about the fact that accidents happen. And I can't let that happen with you. And even if there were no risk at all, it still wouldn't be okay."

"Why not?"

He sighed. "Because, Charley, I'm a Time Lord."

"But that woman on Gallifrey. Leela, was it? She was human and she'd _married _a Time Lord."

"Yes. On Gallifrey. Where she could be contained, integrated into their society. But we're not on Gallifrey. Under the circumstances, when she wanted to stay, they could hardly say no. They made an exception for her. But you aren't -"

"Doctor," Charley interrupted firmly, brow furrowed. He paused, waiting for her to continue. "What is the worst that could happen?"

"The worst?"

"Yes, the absolute worst."

He was quiet for a long moment. Then, slowly, he reached up to stroke her cheek softly. "They could take you from me."

"Well, they could _try_."

"No, Charley, you don't understand."

"Doctor, they don't even have to know."

"They would know the instant they looked at you."

"How could they?"

"Because, Charley, you would bear my imprint."

"Imprint?"

He sighed. "It's difficult to explain. It's a sort of energy signature bonding two organisms. It's visible to Time Lords. Well, not visible in the sense that you can actually _see _it, but it's perceivable."

"And I'm not already'imprinted' with it?" Charley asked in disbelief. "We were the _same _organism for a time. That would seem to me a bit more bonding than... well, than this."

"If you're trying to convince me that this is a _good_ idea," he said seriously, "that it's okay, and it won't cause any real problems, don't bother."

"I'm not trying to convince you of anything!"

"Good." He paused for a long moment, watching her closely. But he didn't move away. He didn't sit up. Instead, his voice lowered again, to a more soothing, gentle tone. "Because it's not a good idea. In fact, it's a very bad idea. There's a hundred and one reasons why this could never work. Let's just be up front about that, right from the beginning."

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"It _is _working."

He fell silent, watching her, waiting for her to explain. She sighed as she reached up and touched his face lightly.

"Doctor, being this close to you - your kiss, your touch, your breath on my skin... It's already the most incredible, exhilarating thing I've ever felt in my entire life."

His eyes softened as a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "It is, isn't it?" he finally admitted.

She smiled back, leaning up as she pulled him closer, catching his mouth in a warm, relaxing kiss. She didn't quite pull away as she spoke, whispering against his lips.

"Don't stop, Doctor," she breathed. "You don't have to 'imprint' me. Just kiss me. Touch me. I want..."

She shivered as she felt his fingers tracing her collarbone, stealing her thoughts away. Shuddering in a breath, she let her mind wander over all of the things she could never be so bold as to say. All of the things she wanted to feel, to explore, to experience with him.

"Doctor, I want you..."

His hands were venturing beneath the thin fabric, tracing the underside of her breast. She bit her lower lip as it occurred to her that she wanted his mouth there, exploring her secrets for the first time - the sensitive places that no one had ever touched. As his fingers flicked and danced over sensitive nerves, her mind was filled with fantasies she had no words to contain.

"Charlotte Pollard, Edwardian Adventuress," he whispered as he parted the camisole, baring her skin to the cool air and to his gaze. "You are, without a doubt, the most beautiful creature I have ever seen."

Her heart fluttered at the way he was studying her - not lecherous, but with intent. With his eyes first and then, as they failed him in the dark, with his hands. His touch ventured slowly over her shoulder, down her arm, sensitizing her body to his touch. Across her stomach and between her breasts, tracing ever-decreasing circles until he finally leaned down and closed his warm, wet mouth around her sensitive peak. She gasped at the unfamiliar sensation, marveling at the way that a teasing pull there could make the places between her legs tingle.

She gave a moan of pure pleasure, lifting her chest towards his mouth, begging for more. His hands moved firmly, gently over her stomach, her hips, over all of the places she was normally self-conscious about when she studied herself in the mirror. But she didn't feel self-conscious now. Not with him. All she felt was warmth and excitement, overwhelming in its intensity as he claimed her for his own - possessive hands still beautifully gentle as they moved over her skin.

She expected his wandering fingers to move to where she was warmest, but he shunned her sex and moved down her legs, massaging wherever he found her muscles tight. She melted under his hands as he worked all the way down to her feet, then slowly back up, gently parting her legs and kneeling between them. Eyes closed absorbing the pleasure, she didn't even think as she opened to him. It was simply a natural, comfortable thing to do.

"Enjoying yourself, Charley?" he teased in a low, mischievous voice that let her know he was smiling.

She cleared her throat, but her voice was still only a squeak as she answered. "Yes. Yes, Doctor. Very much."

He trailed his fingers up the inside of her thighs and she whimpered as he gently rubbed his thumb over the damp fabric between them. But he didn't linger. Moving up to face her again, he kissed her deeply as she pressed her hips up against him, craving more of his touch.

"Please..."

Moving beside her, claiming her mouth with his again, he lowered a hand to trace along the crease of her thigh, teasing the edge of the fabric that still hid her from him. Squirming with anticipation, she dug her heels into the soft earth as she lifted toward his hand. But he pulled back, only allowing her the lightest touch, and she growled in frustration.

"Doctor!"

"Charley?"

"What are you -"

Her words disintegrated into a moan as he curled his fingers under the edge of the cotton and lightly stroked her soft, moist skin. She didn't realize how wet she'd become until she felt his fingers glide smoothly over her most secret parts. Tense with need and yet somehow completely relaxed and at peace in his arms, she gave herself over to sensation as she heard his breath in her ear, deep and steady.

"Charley?"

Her mouth was dry, breathing heavy as she licked her lips before trying to answer. "Hmm?"

She could just barely feel his lips tickling her skin. Suddenly, all those fantasies of hearing that voice in this setting had become a reality. "Touch me."

Stroking her folds one last time, he turned and lay back on the grass, drawing her over him. It took her a moment to find her bearings as he guided her hand to his chest and inviting her to explore. The fog of sensation clearing, she was filled with curiosity, and excitement as she considered his open invitation.

A bit uncertain of what made him feel good, it was the curiosity that drove her. It was too dark to see anything but the outline of his body, and the shorts he'd swam in earlier. The ones that clung to him when they were wet. She smiled to herself. She'd looked then, on the beach; she couldn't help it. Now she couldn't bring herself to strain her eyesight in the darkness, curious or not. But there would be time for that later. Feeling her cheeks warm at the thoughts that flooded her mind, she focused her attentions elsewhere.

There wasn't much of his body she hadn't seen before. For that matter, there wasn't really much of him she hadn't touched. But this was different, by far, than mending wounds and holding hands. This was warm and naked and strikingly intimate. There was no goal, no reason for her hands to be on him except for the simple pleasure of it. His open invitation, the passive non-resistance - even desire - for her touch filled her with a curiously empowering feeling.

Bolder as she felt him relax under her touch, she explored with her fingers what her eyes couldn't see. She'd been there when the scars that crisscrossed his chest had been inflicted on him. Some of his scars, she'd even been responsible for. She gingerly traced the imprint of the sword that had pierced between his hearts. The scar across his throat, healed with the salve just after it was inflicted, was less noticeable. In fact, she wouldn't have noticed it at all if she hadn't vividly remembered making the cut. Leaning down, she touched it lightly with her lips, kissing away the memory of her fear that somehow, something might go horribly wrong. The fear that in that moment and by her own hand, she could lose him forever. That would've been a fate so much worse than anything she could've imagined.

His hand in her hair encouraged her to continue, massaging gently at her scalp as she kissed and nipped gently along his jaw line. She drew in a breath as his other hand closed over hers and guided her down, past his waistline. Hesitant, she let him lead her as her fingers brushed one of those few places she hadn't seen, hadn't touched.

"It's alright, Charley," he said quietly, teasing at her uncertainty. His hand pushed hers down, firmer against him. "I won't break."

Somewhere buried inside of her, instinct was flickering to life. It ran deeper than the proper upbringing she'd had, deeper than the manners and rules and even her sense of right and wrong. Here, now, this was right. Here, they were alone and they were safe, and there were no rules. Here, there were no boundaries.

"Doctor?"

"Hmm?"

"May I...?" Emboldened by her desire, she withdrew her hand from beneath his and slipped it instead under the waistband of his shorts, eliciting a gasp as she curled her fingers gently around his soft, silky flesh.

"Um... Charley?"

"Yes?"

"Please be careful." His voice was a little shaky as he brushed the back of her hand lightly with his fingertips. "I've not been touched like that in a very, very long time."

She paused. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No!" He laughed softly at his own enthusiastic response, and lifted his head to caress her lips with his, just lightly. "No, don't stop. Please don't stop."

Liberated by the certainty of his tone and fueled by the reactions of his body to her touch, the next few moments were a blur. Kissing and touching, rolling and writhing, they searched out the places that neither of them knew, desperate to be closer, to feel and experience everything this place, this intimacy had to offer. What little they wore was lost in the shuffle, and Charley barely even noticed until she felt him slip first one, then two fingers deep inside of her. She groaned, parting her legs wider for him.

"Doctor?"

"Charley?" He was as breathless as she was.

"That feels... Oh, I don't even know how to describe how that feels."

He dropped his head to draw her nipples into his hot mouth, sucking and swirling his tongue in a way that was, in and of itself, nearly enough to make her scream. Moving lower his hot kisses further down her torso, he settled himself between her legs. Startled by his initiative, but too caught up in the swirling - safe, she remembered - emotions and sensations to care, she grabbed a fistful of the grass at her side as his tongue feathered over her most sensitive nerves.

"Doctor!"

She writhed. The steady stroking of his fingers in and out of her and the teasing of his lips and teeth and tongue made her dizzy. She was inexperienced with men, but she knew her own body. She knew her own mind. She knew that what he was doing brought to mind every desire she'd been feeling for him for so long - all of the nights she'd spent wanting to touch him, craving this skin on skin contact and the open vulnerability of being completely under his control. She hadn't even dared to consider this sort of forbidden pleasure.

She felt her body pull tight, heels digging into the dirt, muscles clenching around his fingers as he sucked hard. With a strangled cry of release, she arched up, her head straining back on her neck as she ripped handfuls of grass from the damp earth. As her world went white, he softened his assault and stilled his hand. Tension released, she collapsed into the soft grass with a moan of contented pleasure as his tongue gave a few last, careful strokes.

Moving up slowly to lie beside her, he found her hand and guided it to his hot erection. She was still dizzy, disoriented by the wash of endorphins and emotion. But she knew what he wanted - what she wanted to give him. Her hand closed instinctively around him as he buried his face in her neck, muttering her name.

"Charley - Charley, you taste incredible."

She let him guide her hand, lubricating her grip with fluids from between her own legs. Fascinated, she felt him twitch, heard the catch in his breath as he pushed his hips against her hand, naturally and instinctively.

"You feel... so..."

With her free hand, she raised a finger to touch his lips, silencing him as he gasped. Whispering her name once more, his weight dropped forward as his hips jerked and with a groan, his seed spilled onto the ground.


	6. Chapter 6

"That was... different."

The Doctor opened his eyes slowly at the sound of Charley's voice and stared up at the canopy overhead.

"Not really what I expected," she admitted. "I've never... well... you know. And all the times I've thought about it, I never envisioned it would be quite like that."

He turned his head slowly to look at her in the dim, pre-dawn light, searching for signs of regret or remorse or disappointment. But in spite of the words, he didn't see any. Amusement, confusion perhaps. But she seemed genuinely happy. She even smiled as she glanced over and caught his eye.

"Not very... elegant is it?"

"Elegant?" He laughed outright at that. "No, that's certainly not the word I'd use."

"Well, I do read!" she answered comfortably. "I mean, I did. I even managed to find a copy of _Fanny Hill_ once, but I didn't get very far before my mother found it."

The Doctor smiled at the mental image of a younger Charley, wide eyed and fascinated, hiding in a closet somewhere with her forbidden book.

"But when you read about... well... this, it always sounds so... romantic. Even when it's not. There's no awkwardness or... mess."

"Do you feel awkward?"

"No," she answered hesitantly. "I don't think so, not really."

"How do you feel?"

She paused for a moment before answering. "Sticky."

Again, he laughed. "Besides that."

She smiled, and studied him for a moment before turning onto her side, pulling up closer to him. He shifted, curling an arm around her shoulders as she rested her head on his chest.

"It's a funny thing, Doctor," she said softly. "I feel like... Like I've never really known what I wanted."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed contentedly as she burrowed in closer to him, hugging his waist. "I had this picture in my mind. What it would be like. And it looked nothing like this. But now that I'm here, with you, I see that it couldn't have happened any other way. I wouldn't have wanted it to do. The reality, as gritty and, well, sticky as it may be... It's better than anything that I had imagined."

"Is it?" he asked, allowing a hint of concern to show through. "Or are you just settling? A bird in the hand, as it were."

She laughed softly. "Oh, Doctor. Settling? For you?"

"For what I can give you," he clarified. "Because let's face it, Charley, it is gritty, it is messy. I love you more than words can say but I can't give you the kind of life that one of your own might."

"Oh, of course not! You only have the whole of time and space to offer. A white picket fence is far beyond you."

He smiled. "Charley, I'm serious." He tipped his head down to look at her outline, wishing it was just a little lighter so that he could see her eyes. "You can stay with me to the very end; I'll never tell you to leave. But there is a price. There is a sacrifice. The husband, the children, the _future _you would have -"

"Except I'm not supposed to have a future anyway, Doctor. I should've died on the R-101, remember?"

"Yes, but you didn't. And you can't live the rest of your life saying you deserve nothing better because you should be dead."

She was frowning as she pushed herself up and turned to look down at him. "Doctor, are you alright?"

He sighed deeply as he raised a hand to gently brush her hair back from her forehead. "Of course I am, Charley, I'm always alright."

"You don't sound like it. You sound... disappointed." Her brow creased. "Are you? Disappointed?"

"No, no, not disappointed. Not at all." He paused for a moment, turning his words over and over in his head before he finally spoke them. "To tell you the truth, Charley... I'm a bit scared."

"Scared?" Clearly, she wasn't expecting that. "Of what?"

"I've never been in love before," he admitted quietly. "Not like this. I mean, I've loved, true enough, but never with this sort of... depth. The kind of love that carries on, come ruin or rapture."

"Well, that's a good feeling, though, isn't it?"

"It is, Charley, but it's also a rather frightening one. Because I know I'll love you forever and for a Time Lord... forever is a very long time."

She paused to consider that before answering. "I suppose that would be frightening. I admit, it's a little intimidating even for me."

He smiled as he traced his fingers lightly along the edge of her hair, stroking across her forehead, then down the side of her face, mapping the features he couldn't see. "And, I suppose, I'm afraid of disappointing you."

"Disappointing me?" she laughed. "That's one thing you don't ever have to worry about."

She must have sensed that he wasn't entirely convinced, because her smile broadened as she pushed herself up and leaned in close. Nose to nose, she was still grinning as she whispered, "It'll never happen."

"Never is a very long time, too."

"Never," she repeated.

Her smile was contagious, and he returned it as she kissed his lips lightly, holding both sides of his head as they lay still and naked, nose to nose.

"_Never_, Time Lord."

With a quiet laugh, he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Yes, Ma'am," he teased as he turned, pushing her onto her back as he claimed her mouth again in a deep, passionate kiss.


End file.
